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A couple of weeks ago, we discussed different ways to distribute your company news. In that post, I provided a brief overview of different paid distribution services, including news wires, SEO services and media database services.

Today, I’m going to dive a bit deeper into wire services.

What is a PR news wire service?

PR news wire services distribute content to editors, reporters, bloggers and search engines on behalf of an organization. This is a paid service, and included in the distribution fee, most wire services will allow you to segment your distributions by region, subject matter and/or the audience you want to reach.

When should you use a wire service?

Depending on who you ask, you’ll get a lot of answers on this one. I’m a firm believer in quality over quantity of editorial coverage. For example: If your customer base is comprised of utility contractors, I don’t think it makes any sense to send a company announcement out to a broad, national newspaper like USA Today. You’ll get more bang for your buck if you send your announcement directly to the editor of a trade media news organization in your particular industry, like Utility Products magazine. Make sense?

While PR news wire services do allow some targeting, they can never replace targeting editors and publications that represent your customers’ industries.

Using a PR wire service does make sense at certain times, though. For example: If you’re purchasing another organization or have an announcement that is of interest to businesses outside of your general customer base, a wire service will boost your reach beyond what you can achieve on your own.

Another advantage of wire services is that they provide some excellent analytical information. So if you need report placements, but don’t have time to track them on your own, it might be good to look a wire service.

Also, there certainly are search engine optimization (SEO) benefits of using a wire service. SEO through a news wire service will enable you create more inbound links to your website. You will just want to make sure you consult with an SEO specialist to do it the right way.

Keep in mind, these paid services do not guarantee placement. Your content must be newsworthy enough to garner interest on its own. If your release is picked up, it will run in the primary news section of a website, newsletter, broadcast or magazine. It will not be in the “paid sponsorship” section that so many news outlines now have on their site.

How much does it cost?

Pricing can vary greatly depending on the word count of your company’s news announcement, the number of photos/video you want to include, how many outlets/people you want to reach with the distribution and how well respected with wire service is. You can anywhere from $200 per distribution up to $2,500.

Which wire service should you use?

I’ve used a few different services over my career, and the two I recommend most often are: Business Wire and PR Newswire.

However, there are a growing number of wire services available. Many of which, I haven’t used. You can get a list of them here.

Tell me which ones you have used and what you think of the service and/or the results you received. I’m always interested in other people’s experiences!